[Kabar-indonesia] Agencies agree to prevent irregularities in Aceh

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post
November 8, 2006

Agencies agree to prevent irregularities in Aceh

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The body in charge of rebuilding Aceh and Nias has teamed up
with a national corruption watchdog to ensure the trillions
of rupiah being spent on the areas' reconstruction is not
misused.

Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR)
head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto and Transparancy International
Indonesia (TII) chairman Todung Mulya Lubis signed a
memorandum of understanding Tuesday on good governance in
Medan, North Sumatra.

Todung said the agreement would ensure donated aid money was
not illegally siphoned off by officials and contractors by
improving the integrity of the agency's program.

The agreement will last for two years but will be subject to
a review, he said.

Under the memorandum, the two parties will evaluate the
BRR's system, improve its use of technology and educate
stakeholders involved in the program about how to avoid
graft.

Education will include a public information campaign to
minimize the possibility of corruption, collusion and
nepotism in the public and private sectors.

Todung said the two parties would soon form a task force to
implement the agreement.

To coordinate the work, Todung said the BRR had appointed an
antigraft task force chief to liaise with a top TII staffer.

"The signing of the MOU constitutes a positive and
historical moment. We will carry out surveys and assessments
of the integrity of BRR systems in order to minimize graft,"
Todung said at the signing ceremony.

Kuntoro welcomed the agreement, saying the agency must be
seen to be properly managing the Rp 9.6 trillion (US$1.6
billion) in its budget for this year.

He said the agency would not turn a blind eye to wrongdoing
committed by corrupt BRR officials and building contractors.

Since working for more than a year in Aceh and Nias, the
agency had identified 131 graft cases, of which seven are
being investigated by the national Corruption Eradication
Commission, he said.

"Every graft case found by the BRR is closely related to
working contracts in which BRR members were allegedly
involved in different stages of projects," Kuntoro told The
Jakarta Post after the ceremony.

He said the agency had built about 44,000 of the total
128,000 houses needed for tsunami survivors.

TII secretary general Rizal Malik said the agreement with
the BRR followed six similar agreements signed with the West
Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Nagan Raya, Banda Aceh, Pidie and Bireun
regencies.

He said TII would also work with international relief
agencies involved in the reconstruction.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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